Jackson Miller Receives an A+ from VEA

Congratulations to Delegate Jackson Miller for landing the endorsement of the Virginia Education Association on July 24, 2009. It is a big one! The vetting for this endorsement is not easy and Delegate Miller is to be commended for his ability to think of Virginia’s children rather than partisan politics.

Delegate Miller attempted to give School Boards the authority to use their funds to provide housing assistance grants in an effort to make housing more affordable for teachers. Other pro-education bills he attempted to pass were HB 2139 which would have allowed school boards to hire retired cops as security officers on a full time basis.

He also pushed to have enhanced punishment for gang activity around schools. (Gang Free Zones) HB 437 attempted to change the state funding formula to include an ESOL component. This funding would have provided relief to those areas like Harrisonburg, City of Manassas and Manssas Park which have the highest percent of non-English speaking students in the state. While some of these bills did not pass, Delegate Miller has assured me that he will continue to push for these legislative goals.

Both Senator Colgan and former 50th District Delegate Harry Parrish are known for their support of Virginia education. Both gentlemen worked tirelessly for the children of Virginia. It is great news that Jackson Miller is following in this tradition. He is beaming over this one!

His press release can be seen below:

(Manassas, VA), July 24, 2009- Today the Virginia Education Association (VEA), the VEA Fund, officially endorsed Delegate Jackson Miller for reelection to the House of Delegates in the 50th District. The endorsement came at the recommendation of the Manassas Education Association and Prince William County Education Association, whose members are made up of local teachers and school employees.
During this year’s General Assembly Session, Delegate Miller voted to protect funding for Virginia’s public schools in the state budget. Delegate Miller has promoted legislation to adequately fund English as a second language programs within the state education funding formula and legislation that would make our schools safer for both the students and our public education employees.
“The Virginia Education Association is proud to endorse Delegate Jackson Miller’s 2009 Campaign,” said Meg Gruber, Vice President of The VEA. “In Delegate Miller, the VEA has a strong advocate for our public school system and someone who understands the importance of keeping and carrying our message in Richmond. In Delegate Miller the teachers and school employees of the Commonwealth have a friend and the VEA looks forward to working with Delegate Miller for years to come.”
“As parents with 2 young boys in the public school system, Suzanne and I understand that maintaining Virginia’s world class education system is a top priority,” said Delegate Miller. I am honored to receive the endorsement of the Virginia Education Association and look forward to returning to Richmond and continuing to be a strong voice for our public school system.”

Notice to our contributors:

Anti –bvbl blog does not endorse candidates. We do, however, recognize the yeas and nays of our elected officials and of those who aspire to public office. After speaking with Delegate Jackson Miller, I felt that he has worked with both sides of the aisle to improve the quality of education for the children of Virginia. His endorsement by the VEA is significant and not easily obtained.

Our representative will be contacting the Rishell campaign and we will give Jeanette Richelle equal time on the blog. Meanwhile, we cannot delay pointing out this hard-earned accomplishment of Delegate Miller.

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11 Thoughts to “Jackson Miller Receives an A+ from VEA”

A politician birthed by Gospel Greg Letiecq will never be fully deserving of the public trust. But who gave birth to who? That’s what I’d like to know. Miller’s career and Gospel Greg’s career, or whatever he does and whoever pays him, are linked from the start. Until we see a separation and an explanation, I could not consider voting for him.

Equally impressive that a Republican supports education enough to get the much coveted endorsement. Usually they are the first to start slicing and dicing when it comes to providing funding. Jackson Miller stepped out in the center of the aisle to preserve funding for next year.

Shelly, the VEA endorsement is not easy to earn. They look at the candidate’s support for public education. They do not involve themselves with other politics that do not have any thing to do with education.

Ah yes, since the VEA endorsed someone Shelly doesn’t like the obviously don’t do much vetting…

Just curious but was Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell’s endorsement by BET co-founder Shelia Crump Johnson ever mentioned? Or does she not do much vetting either since it was for a Republican?

I have no idea. I am only covering my own neck of the woods. Any time a candidate or elected official supports education rather bashing it, I tend to sit up and take notice. All too often politicians head straight for education money when the well is running dry. Not in this case and that is why he got the VEA endorsement.

This thread is a perfect example of everyone concentrating on the bad and ignoring the good. I have read about how this blog beat up on Jackson Miller. However, I sure don’t see those same nay-sayers coming here and saying, “Way to go, jackson.”

Frankly, I would have preferred to ignore this race, go into my voting booth, cast my ballet and not discuss the 50th district. Both candidates have some positive attitudes and platforms on issues that are very important to me. However, events sometimes don’t turn out as we would like for them to.

How about a few responses about a candidate who sees the need to work both sides of the aisle? Why was preserving the state education funding so important to Jackson Miller? Is it important to have a delegate who puts the needs of the local school boards above party politics?

What are the top 3 issues facing the 50th and do they differ from other districts?